Bush pardons Weinberger and five Iran-Contra figures before trial to halt independent counsel investigation

President George H.W. Bush pardoned former Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger and five other Iran-Contra figures on December 24, 1992, one week before Weinberger's scheduled trial. Independent Counsel Lawrence Walsh called the pardons a completion of the Iran-Contra coverup that had run for six years. The Weinberger pardon marked the first time a president pardoned someone in whose trial he could have been called as a witness — Bush had been vice president during the events under investigation.